Watched the Bucks, Naito, and Omega match in full and prob last 5 min each of rest. Solid show. Enjoyed Bucks match much more than their ROH work. Okada winning was right call. Think Jericho/omega was very good but omega had a better match last year

Early contender for show of the year. I thought every match was great with the exception of the Six-Man tag gauntlet. I LOVED Suzuki/Goto, Jericho/Omega, Okada/Naito. Tanahashi's match was good but disappointing by WK standards.

Last edited by ICW on January 9th, 2018, 8:40 am, edited 1 time in total.

At the rate NJPW is going they are probably the #2 promotion worldwide. If they can do big business in Australia later this year & can do more US shows outside CA they could be the competition WWE needs.

At the rate NJPW is going they are probably the #2 promotion worldwide. If they can do big business in Australia later this year & can do more US shows outside CA they could be the competition WWE needs.

The problem with "competing" is the same reason WWE doesn't "compete" with NJPW over in Japan - it's one thing to do a big tour a couple of times a year, but to run regularly on the other side of the world would not only be cost prohibitive, but it would cause them to neglect their home market. Why would New Japan fly everybody over here for a long tour to possibly sell out shows in Chicago, NY, Dallas, etc., when they can sell out shows in and around Tokyo without having to buy dozens of expensive plane tickets and hotels?

WWE will occasionally run Japan, and NJPW will occasionally run the US, but it will never be frequent enough for the two companies to "compete" head to head in the same country at the same time.

The problem with "competing" is the same reason WWE doesn't "compete" with NJPW over in Japan - it's one thing to do a big tour a couple of times a year, but to run regularly on the other side of the world would not only be cost prohibitive, but it would cause them to neglect their home market. Why would New Japan fly everybody over here for a long tour to possibly sell out shows in Chicago, NY, Dallas, etc., when they can sell out shows in and around Tokyo without having to buy dozens of expensive plane tickets and hotels?

WWE will occasionally run Japan, and NJPW will occasionally run the US, but it will never be frequent enough for the two companies to "compete" head to head in the same country at the same time.

So in Japan which is considered bigger? WWE or NJPW?

Also agreed with that it was always be a niche in the US. Any wrestling outside WWE is a niche and NJPW is further hurdled by the language barrier.

NJPW is bigger in Japan, for the same reason WWE is bigger in the US - they run locally regularly, and the majority of wrestlers speak the native language. Also, NJPW has really grown in recent years - when I first came in 2008 for WK2, they co-promoted the Tokyo Dome with TNA and used other federation talent on the show, along with retired legends doing cameos. And with that, I don't think they even opened up the upper deck of the Dome. This year, they probably had double the crowd they drew in 2008, and other than Jericho, the whole card was NJPW roster regulars. NJPW World probably helps alot in their growth.

Also agreed with that it was always be a niche in the US. Any wrestling outside WWE is a niche and NJPW is further hurdled by the language barrier.

I don't think it'll ever grow to WWE levels in the US for that reason, but I think between the easy availability to content with NJPW World, along with providing English commentary for big shows , raises it slightly above "niche" level, to "distant #2 promotion" level, kinda like what TNA has been at it's highest levels over the years.

I don't think it'll ever grow to WWE levels in the US for that reason, but I think between the easy availability to content with NJPW World, along with providing English commentary for big shows , raises it slightly above "niche" level, to "distant #2 promotion" level, kinda like what TNA has been at it's highest levels over the years.

It might be TNA level but personally I don't think TNA ever reached the distant #2 level. ECW back in the day was more popular than TNA ever was. Shocking in this Internet age.